Chapter 6 - What Was Left Behind
By 3:00 AM, Emma and her newborn daughter were resting peacefully in the secure room, both stabilized by Dr. Thorne.
Gabriel sat in the study downstairs, a single desk lamp illuminating the heavy black canvas duffel bag he had taken from Emma’s Honda trunk.
Vincent stood by the window, sipping dark coffee while watching the security monitors displaying the forest driveway.
“Pike’s hunting us now,” Vincent said quietly. “He knows my SUV model. He’s already pulling traffic cameras across the county.”
“Let him look,” Gabriel said smoothly.
Gabriel unzipped the duffel bag. Inside were not baby clothes or personal items.
It contained three heavy leather-bound logbooks, four encrypted external hard drives, and a military-grade satellite phone.
Gabriel picked up the top logbook, flipping through pages of dates, vessel registration numbers, and financial ledgers.
His jaw tightened.
The records detailed massive, illegal shipments of military hardware and toxic industrial waste routed through Bellhaven’s ports, signed off directly by Julian Vance—the CEO of Blackridge Industrial—and Nolan Pike.
But there was more.
On the final page of the ledger was a list of paid monthly kickbacks transferred directly to senior officials in the North Carolina State Police, the county prosecutor's office, and three regional judges.
Cole Mercer hadn't just found corporate fraud. He had uncovered a multi-million-dollar criminal syndicate operating under the blanket protection of law enforcement.
“This is why Pike was willing to execute her at a gas station,” Gabriel said, setting the ledger down. “If these files reach the federal prosecutor in Charlotte, Blackridge vanishes overnight, and half the county officials go to federal prison.”
Vincent walked over, looking at the hard drives. “Where is Cole Mercer?”
Gabriel picked up the satellite phone from the bag. He checked the call log.
The last outgoing call was made four hours ago to a local landline in Bellhaven—an abandoned grain silo near the river dock.
Gabriel stood up, pulling his wool coat back over his shoulders. “Mercer is hiding at the old river silo. He doesn't know Emma was shot, and he doesn't know Pike found her car.”
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“You’re going after him?” Vincent asked.
“Pike will check Mercer’s known locations next,” Gabriel said, checking his pistol’s magazine. “If Pike gets to Mercer first, Emma and that baby will never be safe. Watch the lodge, Vincent. I’m taking two men.”
